Articles

Shares in Remy Cointreau and Pernod Ricard both up about 8%, after China’s Commerce Ministry says will not impose provisional anti-dumping subsidy on brandy imported from EU.

This article was written by Arno V Venter at www.forexlive.com.

China’s Commerce Ministry: Will not impose provisional anti-dumping subsidy on brandy imported from EU.

This article was written by Arno V Venter at www.forexlive.com.

• Riksbank’s Bunge: Inflation is in the process of stabilising at the target and the Swedish economy is in a mild recession.
• Riksbank’s Bunge: I foresee two or three further cuts this year.
• Riksbank’s Bunge: However, monetary policy should still be characterised by a gradual adjustment.
• Riksbank’s Bunge: This creates predictability and gives us the opportunity to manage a different development in the economy than expected, if this should prove necessary.
• Riksbank’s Bunge: We need to ensure that all sectors, not least property companies and households, are resilient to withstand a potential situation where interest rates rise again at some point

This article was written by Arno V Venter at www.forexlive.com.

Spanish HICP flash YY: 2.4vs 2.5% expected

Spanish CPI YY flash: vs 2.4% expected

Spanish HICP flash MM: vs 0.2% expected

Spanish CPI MM flash: vs 0.1% expected

This article was written by Arno V Venter at www.forexlive.com.

Global Markets:

•  Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 0.42%, Shanghai Composite down 0.3%, Hang Seng down 0.4% ASX down 0.33%
• Commodities : Gold at $2553.35 (0.59%), Silver at $30.03 (1.271%), Brent Oil at $77.6 (0.29%), WTI Oil at $74.72 (0.28%)
• Rates : US 10-year yield at 3.841, UK 10-year yield at 4.002, Germany 10-year yield at 2.273

News & Data:

• (USD) Crude Oil Inventories  -0.8M vs -2.7M expected

Markets Update:

Asia-Pacific markets declined on Thursday, led by a slump in tech stocks following chipmaker Nvidia’s second-quarter earnings report. Nvidia’s results for the quarter ending in July exceeded Wall Street’s expectations, with revenue reaching $30 billion—a 15% increase from the previous quarter and a 122% surge year-over-year. Despite these strong figures and a $50 billion share buyback authorization, Nvidia’s shares dropped 8% in after-hours trading.

Investors in Asia are closely monitoring potential ripple effects on regional tech stocks, especially those connected to Nvidia’s supply chain, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and SK Hynix. In South Korea, SK Hynix tumbled over 5%, and Samsung Electronics fell more than 2.6%, pulling the Kospi index down by 0.71%. The Kosdaq, dominated by smaller companies, also fell by 0.74%.

Taiwan’s Weighted Index led regional losses, declining 1.14%. TSMC shares dropped 2.07%, while Hon Hai Precision Industry, known globally as Foxconn, fell 2.16%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and the broader Topix were down 0.42% and 0.24%, respectively. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.3%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 0.4%. The mainland Chinese CSI 300 lost 0.31%.

Meanwhile, U.S. markets also experienced declines before Nvidia’s report, with the Nasdaq Composite down 1.12%, the S&P 500 slipping 0.6%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 159.08 points, or 0.39%.

Upcoming Events: 

• 12:30 PM GMT – USD Prelim GDP q/q
• 12:30 PM GMT – USD Unemployment Claims

The post Thursday 29th August 2024: Asia-Pacific Markets Fall as Tech Stocks Slide After Nvidia Earnings first appeared on IC Markets | Official Blog.

Swedish Final GDP YY: 0.5% vs 0.0% expected

Swedish Final GDP QQ: -0.3% vs -0.8% expected

Swedish Retail Sales MM: 0.5% vs -0.3% prior

Swedish Retail Sales YY: -0.5% vs -0.1% prior

This article was written by Arno V Venter at www.forexlive.com.

IC Markets Europe Fundamental Forecast | 29 August 2024

What happened in the Asia session?

The dollar index (DXY) dipped under the 101-level while spot prices for gold edged higher towards $2,520/oz in what was a relatively quiet session. Markets are likely to come alive during the U.S. session later as traders await the preliminary GDP result for the second quarter of 2024 and the latest figures on unemployment claims from stateside.

What does it mean for the Europe & US sessions?

After rising 0.3% MoM in July, the preliminary CPI for Germany is expected to remain flat in August. Should we see prices decline and surprise markets to the downside, the Euro could face some headwinds and limit its recent gains.

SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan is due to speak in Basel where he could provide some insights on the upcoming monetary policy meeting on 26th September. After making two consecutive rate cuts to lower their key policy rate from 1.75% in February down to 1.25% in June, traders will be looking for clues on a third possible rate cut by this central bank. The franc could come under pressure and potentially drive USD/CHF lower later today.

The Dollar Index (DXY)

Key news events today

GDP (12:30 pm GMT)

Unemployment Claims (12:30 pm GMT)

What can we expect from DXY today?

The preliminary result for second quarter GDP is expected to remain unchanged at 2.8% YoY, matching the advance estimate. Economic output looks set to rebound from 1.4% in the first quarter, signalling a ‘goldilocks’ economy. Meanwhile, unemployment claims have moderated lower over the past three weeks and the latest estimate points to further stabilization. Should we see claims continue to moderate lower while GDP output remains steady, this set of results could function as another tailwind for the dollar later today.

Central Bank Notes:

• The Federal Funds Rate target range remained unchanged at 5.25% to 5.50% for the eighth meeting in a row.
• The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2% over the longer run and judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals continue to move into better balance.
• The economic outlook is uncertain, and the Committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate.
• Recent indicators suggest that economic activity has continued to expand at a solid pace while job gains have moderated, and the unemployment rate has moved up but remains low.
• In considering any adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate, the Committee will carefully assess incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks and does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%.
• In assessing the appropriate stance of monetary policy, the Committee will continue to monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook and would be prepared to adjust the stance of monetary policy as appropriate if risks emerge that could impede the attainment of the Committee’s goals.
• In addition, the Committee will continue reducing its holdings of Treasury securities and agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities. Beginning in June, the Committee slowed the pace of decline of its securities holdings by reducing the monthly redemption cap on Treasury securities from $60 billion to $25 billion.
• The Committee will maintain the monthly redemption cap on agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities at $35 billion and will reinvest any principal payments in excess of this cap into Treasury securities.
• Next meeting runs from 17 to 18 September 2024.

Next 24 Hours Bias

Medium Bullish

Gold (XAU)

Key news events today

GDP (12:30 pm GMT)

Unemployment Claims (12:30 pm GMT)

What can we expect from Gold today?

The preliminary result for second quarter GDP is expected to remain unchanged at 2.8% YoY, matching the advance estimate. Economic output looks set to rebound from 1.4% in the first quarter, signalling a ‘goldilocks’ economy. Meanwhile, unemployment claims have moderated lower over the past three weeks and the latest estimate points to further stabilization. Should we see claims continue to moderate lower while GDP output remains steady, this set of results could function as another tailwind for the dollar and potentially limit the gains for gold later today.

Next 24 Hours Bias

Weak Bearish

The Australian Dollar (AUD)

Key news events today

No major news events.

What can we expect from AUD today?

The Aussie pulled back towards 0.6765 overnight before rising towards the threshold of 0.6800. This currency pair was attempting to break above this threshold as Asian markets came online – these are the support and resistance levels for today.

Support: 0.6750

Resistance: 0.6860

Central Bank Notes:

• The RBA kept the cash rate target unchanged at 4.35%, marking the sixth consecutive pause.
• Inflation has fallen substantially since its peak in 2022, as higher interest rates have been working to bring aggregate demand and supply closer towards balance but it still remains above the midpoint of the 2 to 3% target range.
• The CPI rose by 3.9% over the year to the June quarter, demonstrating that inflation is proving persistent. In year-ended terms, underlying inflation has now been above the midpoint of the target for 11 consecutive quarters while quarterly underlying CPI inflation has fallen very little over the past year.
• The central forecasts set out in the latest SMP are for inflation to return to the target range of 2 to 3% in late 2025 and approach the midpoint in 2026. This represents a slightly slower return to target than forecast in May, based on estimates that the gap between aggregate demand and supply in the economy is larger than previously thought.
• Momentum in economic activity has been weak, as evidenced by slow growth in GDP, a rise in the unemployment rate and reports that many businesses are under pressure. In addition, there is a risk that household consumption picks up more slowly than expected, resulting in continued subdued output growth and a noticeable deterioration in the labour market.
• Inflation in underlying terms remains too high, and the latest projections show that it will be some time yet before inflation is sustainably in the target range while recent data have reinforced the need to remain vigilant to upside risks to inflation and the Board is not ruling anything in or out.
• Policy will need to be sufficiently restrictive until the Board is confident that inflation is moving sustainably towards the target range and will rely upon the incoming data and the evolving assessment of risks to guide its decisions.
• Next meeting is on 5 November 2024.

Next 24 Hours Bias

Weak Bearish

The Kiwi Dollar (NZD)

Key news events today

No major news events.

What can we expect from NZD today?

The Kiwi hovered under 0.6250 for most of the U.S. session before rising strongly at the beginning of the Asia session. This currency pair was heading towards 0.6300 and looks certain to hit this barrier – these are the support and resistance levels for today.

Support: 0.6200

Resistance: 0.6300

Central Bank Notes:

• The Monetary Policy Committee agreed to reduce the OCR by 25 basis points, bringing it down to 5.25% in August as inflation converges on target.
• The Committee is confident that inflation is returning to within its 1-3% target band as surveyed inflation expectations, firms’ pricing behaviour, headline inflation, and a variety of core inflation measures are moving consistent with low and stable inflation.
• Economic growth remains below trend and inflation is declining across advanced economies – imported inflation into New Zealand has declined to be more consistent with pre-pandemic levels.
• Services inflation remains elevated but is also expected to continue to decline, both at home and abroad, in line with increased spare economic capacity.
• Consumer price inflation in New Zealand is expected to remain near the target mid-point over the foreseeable future.
• A broad range of high-frequency indicators point to a material weakening in domestic economic activity in recent months – these include various survey measures of business activity, electronic card transactions, vehicle traffic, house sales, filled jobs, and job vacancies; these indicators collectively provide a consistent signal that the economy contracted in recent months.
• The pace of further easing will depend on the Committee’s confidence that pricing behaviour remains consistent with a low inflation environment, and that inflation expectations are anchored around the 2% target.
• Next meeting is on 9 October 2024.

Next 24 Hours Bias

Weak Bearish

The Japanese Yen (JPY)

Key news events today

No major news events.

What can we expect from JPY today?

Slightly improved demand for the dollar nudged USD/JPY higher to briefly climb above the 145-level overnight. This currency pair then slipped to edge lower towards 144.20 as Asian markets came online – these are the support and resistance levels for today.

Support: 142.00

Resistance: 147.00

Central Bank Notes:

• The Policy Board of the Bank of Japan decided, by a 7-2 majority vote, to set the following guideline for money market operations for the intermeeting period and decided on the following measures:
  1. The Bank will encourage the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at around 0.25% while reducing its purchase amount of Japanese government bonds (JGB) by a unanimous vote.
  2. The Bank decided, by a unanimous vote, on a plan to reduce the amount of its monthly outright purchases of JGBs so that it will be about 3 trillion yen in January-March 2026; the amount will be cut down by about 400 billion yen each calendar quarter in principle.
• The year-on-year rate of increase in the CPI (all items less fresh food) is likely to be at around 2.5% for fiscal 2024 and then be at around 2% for fiscal 2025 and 2026.
• Meanwhile, underlying CPI inflation is expected to increase gradually, since it is projected that the output gap will improve and that medium- to long-term inflation expectations will rise with a virtuous cycle between wages and prices continuing to intensify.
• In the second half of the projection period, it is likely to be at a level that is generally consistent with the price stability target of 2%.
• Japan’s economy is likely to keep growing at a pace above its potential growth rate, with overseas economies continuing to grow moderately and as a virtuous cycle from income to spending gradually intensifies against the background of factors such as accommodative financial conditions.
• Next meeting is on 20 September 2024.

Next 24 Hours Bias

Weak Bearish

The Euro (EUR)

Key news events today

Germany CPI (Tentative)

What can we expect from EUR today?

After rising 0.3% MoM in July, the preliminary CPI for Germany is expected to remain flat in August. Should we see prices decline and surprise markets to the downside, the Euro could face some headwinds and limit its recent gains.

Central Bank Notes:

• The Governing Council today decided to keep the three key ECB interest rates unchanged in July, following a 25 basis points cut in June.
• Accordingly, the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 4.25%, 4.50% and 3.75% respectively.
• Monetary policy is keeping financing conditions restrictive but at the same time, domestic price pressures are still high, services inflation is elevated and headline inflation is likely to remain above the target well into next year.
• While some measures of underlying inflation ticked up in May owing to one-off factors, most measures were either stable or edged down in June.
• The incoming information indicates that the euro area economy grew in the second quarter, but likely at a slower pace than in the first quarter.
• Services continue to lead the recovery, while industrial production and goods exports have been weak – investment indicators point to muted growth in 2024, amid heightened uncertainty.
• The Eurosystem no longer reinvests all of the principal payments from maturing securities purchased under the pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP), reducing the PEPP portfolio by €7.5 billion per month on average and the Governing Council intends to discontinue reinvestments under the PEPP at the end of 2024.
• The Council is determined to ensure that inflation returns to its 2% medium-term target in a timely manner and will keep policy rates sufficiently restrictive for as long as necessary to achieve this aim and is not pre-committing to a particular rate path.
• Next meeting is on 12 September 2024.

Next 24 Hours Bias

Weak Bearish

The Swiss Franc (CHF)

Key news events today

SNB Chairman Jordan Speaks (4:00 pm GMT)

What can we expect from CHF today?

SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan is due to speak in Basel where he could provide some insights on the upcoming monetary policy meeting on 26th September. After making two consecutive rate cuts to lower their key policy rate from 1.75% in February down to 1.25% in June, traders will be looking for clues on a third possible rate cut by this central bank. The franc could come under pressure and potentially drive USD/CHF lower later today.

Central Bank Notes:

• The SNB eased monetary policy by lowering its key policy rate by 25 basis points for the second consecutive meeting, going from 1.50% to 1.25% in June.
• The underlying inflationary pressure has decreased again compared to the previous quarter but inflation had risen slightly since the last monetary policy assessment, and stood at 1.4% in May.
• The inflation forecast puts average annual inflation at 1.3% for 2024, 1.1% for 2025 and 1.0% for 2026, based on the assumption that the SNB policy rate is 1.25% over the entire forecast horizon.
• Swiss GDP growth was moderate in the first quarter of 2024 with the services sector continuing to expand, while manufacturing stagnated.
• Growth is likely to remain moderate in Switzerland in the coming quarters as the SNB anticipates GDP growth of around 1% this year while currently expecting growth of around 1.5% for 2025.
• Next meeting is on 26 September 2024.

Next 24 Hours Bias

Weak Bearish

The Pound (GBP)

Key news events today

No major news events.

What can we expect from GBP today?

Overnight demand for the greenback pushed Cable lower to break under the 1.3200-level. This currency pair stabilized around 1.3170 before edging higher as Asian markets came online – these are the support and resistance levels for today.

Support: 1.3180

Resistance: 1.3300

Central Bank Notes:

• The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted by a majority of 5-to-4 to reduce its Official Bank Rate by 25 basis points to 5.00% on 1st August 2024.
• Five members preferred to reduce the Bank Rate by 25 basis points to 5%, an increase of two from the previous meeting while four members preferred to maintain the Bank Rate at 5.25%.
• Twelve-month CPI inflation was at the MPC’s 2% target in both May and June but it is expected to increase to around 2.75% in the second half of this year as declines in energy prices last year fall out of the annual comparison, revealing more clearly the prevailing persistence of domestic inflationary pressures. Private sector regular average weekly earnings growth has fallen to 5.6% in the three months to May, and services consumer price inflation has declined to 5.7% in June.
• GDP has picked up quite sharply so far this year, but underlying momentum appears weaker. GDP had grown by 0.7% in 2024 Q1, with that strength appearing to have continued into Q2. Growth in the first half of the year had been stronger than expected at the time of the May Report. 
• Business surveys had continued to point to underlying growth of around 0.3% per quarter, somewhat weaker than headline GDP growth. A margin of slack should emerge in the economy as GDP falls below potential and the labour market eases further.
• The Committee noted that it is now appropriate to reduce slightly the degree of policy restrictiveness but monetary policy will need to continue to remain restrictive for sufficiently long until the risks to inflation returning sustainably to the 2% target in the medium term have dissipated further.
• The Committee continues to monitor closely the risks of inflation persistence and will decide the appropriate degree of monetary policy restrictiveness at each meeting.
• Next meeting is on 19 September 2024.

Next 24 Hours Bias

Weak Bearish

The Canadian Dollar (CAD)

Key news events today

No major news events.

What can we expect from CAD today?

Demand for the Loonie eased slightly as USD/CAD retraced higher overnight. This currency pair rose towards 1.3490 before pulling back to trade around 1.3460 at the beginning of the Asia session – these are the support and resistance levels for today.

Support: 1.3380

Resistance: 1.3490

Central Bank Notes:

• The Bank of Canada reduced its target for the overnight rate by 25 basis points to 4.50% while continuing its policy of balance sheet normalization.
• Canada’s economic growth likely picked up to about 1.5% through the first half of this year and is forecasted to increase in the second half of 2024 and through 2025.
• Overall, the Bank forecasts GDP growth of 1.2% in 2024, 2.1% in 2025, and 2.4% in 2026, reflecting stronger exports and a recovery in household spending and business investment as borrowing costs ease.
• CPI inflation moderated to 2.7% in June after increasing in May as broad inflationary pressures eased.
• The Bank’s preferred measures of core inflation have been below 3% for several months and the breadth of price increases across components of the CPI is now near its historical norm but shelter price inflation remains high, driven by rent and mortgage interest costs, and is still the biggest contributor to total inflation.
• These preferred measures of core inflation are expected to slow to about 2.5% in the second half of 2024 and ease gradually through 2025 and CPI inflation is expected to come down below core inflation in the second half of this year, largely because of base year effects on gasoline prices.
• There are signs of slack in the labour market with the unemployment rate rising to 6.4%, as employment continues to grow more slowly than the labour force and job seekers taking longer to find work. Wage growth is showing some signs of moderation, but remains elevated.
• The Governing Council’s future monetary policy decisions will be guided by incoming information and assessment of their implications for the inflation outlook.
• Recent data has increased the council’s confidence that inflation will continue to move towards the 2% target. Nonetheless, risks to the inflation outlook remain.
• Next meeting is on 4 September 2024.

Next 24 Hours Bias

Weak Bullish

Oil

Key news events today

No major news events.

What can we expect from Oil today?

The EIA crude oil Inventories decreased less than originally anticipated as only 0.8M barrels of crude were removed from storage versus the estimate of a 2.7M-decline as oil prices retreated for the second day in a row. However, the losses were limited due to the ongoing supply concerns in the Middle East, particularly in Libya with several oilfields halting output as a dispute continues between rival government factions over control of the central bank and oil revenue. WTI oil fell over 1.3% overnight as it dipped under $75.50 – this benchmark was trading around $75.20 per barrel at the onset of the Asian trading hours.

Next 24 Hours Bias

Medium Bearish

The post IC Markets Europe Fundamental Forecast | 29 August 2024 first appeared on IC Markets | Official Blog.

• Ukrainian military says it attacked ‘Atlas’ oil storage facility in Russia’s Rostov region on Aug.28, causing a fire.
• Ukrainian military says it struck ‘Zenit’ oil depot in Russia’s Kirov region.
• Ukrainian military says it struck field artillery depot in Russia’s Voronezh region

This article was written by Arno V Venter at www.forexlive.com.

Japan consumer confidence index: 36.7 vs 36.7 prior

This article was written by Arno V Venter at www.forexlive.com.

Risk sentiment starts the session with a positive lean to it, despite Nvidia earnings and guidance not being enough to satisfy markets.

FX: In FX the NZD is leading the pack to the upside following a solid jump in the ANZ Business Outlook and Own Activity data. The AUD is surprisingly strong despite a chunky miss in Q2 Capital Expenditure data. The JPY and USD is the two biggest underperformers.

Commodities: Having a much better day compared to yesterday with commodities higher across the board. Base metals, precious metals and energy is higher on the session so far (most likely driven by the weaker USD)

Equity futures: Mostly green across the board with the ES and NQ trading around flat on the session, with the next move most likely going to be driven by further price action developments in Nvidia.

Bonds: Not doing much so far with very marginal fluctuations in yields.

This article was written by Arno V Venter at www.forexlive.com.

The NZD is on another run higher this morning, testing close to the 0.63 psychological level.

The NZD has caught many by surprise after the currency failed to push lower following the recent dovish tilt by the RBNZ.

I think positioning can take some of that blame as the markets were already quite bearish on the NZD heading into the RBNZ decision and had priced in a fair bit of bad news for the currency in recent weeks.

The trigger for today’s jump in the NZD is the ANZ Business Outlook and Own Activity data, with the Business Outlook jumping to 50.6 which is the highest since 2014.

Even though the report was solid, it’s worth noting that much of the optimism wasn’t just due to the RBNZ’s rate cut, as the jump in optimism was seen in collected surveys ahead of the cut. Of course the optimism from expected cuts obviously helped though.

It wasn’t all rosy though, ANZ did add a caveat in the report by saying that the ‘reported past activity, which has a good
correlation to GDP over its short history, barely lifted, and at -23 remains
very weak.’

This article was written by Arno V Venter at www.forexlive.com.

• Apple orders over 10% more iPhones versus last year
• PBOC sets USDCNY midpoint at 7.1299 versus expectations of 7.1297
• Australia capital expenditures for Q2 -2.2% versus 1.0% expected
• ANZ business outlook for August 50.6 versus 27.1 last month. 10 year high.
• Can gold sellers gather some traction?
• Nvidia remains lower by around 7% (as do the other Mag 7)
• Fed’s Bostick: On inflation, there is still distant to go
• Nvidia Jensen Huang can not lift Nvidia in after hours trading
• Kickstart the FX trading day for Aug 29 w/a technical look at EURUSD, USDJPY & GBPUSD
• Nvidia EPS $0.68 vs $0.64 estimate. Rev $30.04B dollars vs $28.5 billion estimate
• Forexlive Americas FX news wrap: US dollar firms ahead of Nvidia earnings
• Major US stock indices close lower ahead of Nvidia earnings
• What’s Ahead? Fed’s Bostic, ANZ business confidence & some key earnings ahead (i.e.Nvidia)

The earnings from Nvidia came in better than expected as did the revenues and even the guidance but investors side not the delay in the Blackwell and perhaps hopes for more, took the stock down in after-hour trading (the stock was trading near $117-118 in after hours trading after closing at $125.61). That has Asian shares stepping lower with the Japan Nikkei down -0.39%, China’s Shanghai Composite down -0.60%, Hang Seng index down -0.76%, and the S&P/ASX200 index down -0.39%.

What did not help in Australia is the Capital expenditure data for Q2 which came in much weaker than expected at -2.2% vs +1.0%. That was not a good number and helped to push the AUDUSD back down after once again trying to extend above resistance at 0.6800. The current price is trading at 0.6890.

In contrast, the New Zealand ANZ business outlook index for August made traders take a double-take as it increased to 50.6 vs 27.1 last month. That was good enough for the highest level in 10 years. Moreover, the Own Activity index was equally impressive with a gain of 37.1 vs 16.3 last month. That was it’s highest reading in 7 years.

The data helped to propel the NZD sharply higher vs all the major currency pairs with gains of 0.44% (vs the CHF) to 0.59% (vs the USD).

The NZD is by far the strongest of the currencies to start the trading day. The USD and JPY are tied for the weakest of the majors (although the greenback had relatively modest declines vs the major currencies sans the NZD or -0.1% to -0.11% in the snapshot view.

Atlanta Fed’s Bostic did speak today (he spoke last on Friday). He commented on the current economic conditions, stating that there is still a considerable distance to go in addressing inflation. He noted that the labor market remains strong by historical standards. Bostic emphasized the importance of not waiting until inflation reaches 2% before moving away from the restrictive monetary stance. While inflation has decreased faster than anticipated and unemployment has risen more than expected, he suggested pulling forward a rate cut to the third quarter. However, he cautioned against cutting rates prematurely, only to raise them again, and stressed the need to wait for more data before making any decisions on rate cuts..

US yields are little changed. Gold tried to stay below hourly MA resistance near $2507, but the sellers could not gain any downside traction, and the price moved above those MAs on the USD selling.

Bitcoin is trading marginally higher (about $137) at $59,170.

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.